questions as to whether he could compete in Sochi.

TORONTO - Its been just over two months since Masai Ujiri aggressively opened trade season in the NBA, pulling off a blockbuster seven-player deal with Sacramento, but the Raptors general manager opted to employ a different tactic Thursday afternoon, as the deadline came and went without much noise. "Its weird with the trade deadline," Ujiri said, shortly after 4pm et, one hour removed from the deadline itself. "We all get caught up in it, were working the phones and doing all kinds of stuff." "Nothing really significant got done but its always a tedious time because youre always trying to see what makes sense for your team, now and in the future." It wasnt for a lack of effort - Ujiri and company had contemplated a number of larger scale trade scenarios - but ultimately the Raptors core was left untouched, their roster kept intact, apart from a last minute tinker to the back end of the bench. "For us in our positions, its always tough to stand pat," the Raptors GM admitted. "There are things that are tempting and you do the exercise in your mind, on paper, you try to picture it [but] you dont know until its actually put in there and they begin to play." For Ujiri, the evaluation process has been muddled by his teams unexpected success since the Rudy Gay trade in December and the porous Eastern Conference in which theyve experienced said success. The result of that appraisal was somewhat inconclusive. Ujiri is still unsure what he has in the Easts surprising third seed but their recent play - and most importantly the chemistry theyve developed - has piqued his interest enough to buy them more time. "You pray and you hope for chemistry and I think we found it a little bit," he stressed. "We said we were going to give these players a platform and they would dictate where we go and to be fair, I think weve also tried to live up to our part of the bargain here and they have, too." Simply put, the right deal wasnt out there, not one that would satisfy Ujiris long-term goals while also maintaining what they have in place now. Ujiri is confident most of the discussion that has taken place over the last week can be revisited over the summer, if need be. At that point, he should have a greater idea of whats available but also how much his own assets are worth. One of those players, soon-to-be free agent point guard Kyle Lowry, has been the focus of trade speculation and will headline Ujiris offseason decision-making process. "Obviously, we didnt do anything with Kyle because we view him highly in this organization," Ujiri said of Lowry, who is averaging career-bests in points and assists this year. In Wednesday nights loss to the Bulls, Lowry knocked down his 129th three-pointer of the campaign, matching his career-high for threes made in a single season, with 28 games still left to play. Ujiri met with Lowrys agent, Andy Miller, on Wednesday, the eve of the deadline. Overall, the Raptors GM has been content with the communication on both sides and seemed enthusiastic about Lowrys progress and his future with the team. "We set some good [goals] and had good talks with him," said Ujiri. "He was upfront with us, we were upfront with him in the beginning of the season and hes living up to his part and I think weve lived up our part, too. I think thats how you build partnerships. Well see how he grows." It was a relatively quiet day league-wide. The most notable deal was leaked by Yahoo Sports shortly after the 3pm et deadline had passed with Indiana, the Easts best team, shipping often-injured former all-star Danny Granger to the rebuilding 76ers for a package that included breakout forward Evan Turner. The Raptors also made a late, albeit inconsequential move, trading seldom-used forward Austin Daye to San Antonio in exchange for French combo guard Nando De Colo. De Colo - averaging 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 26 games for the Spurs this season, his second in the NBA - is due to become a free agent this summer and doesnt figure to factor into Caseys rotation as long as his regulars stay healthy. Daye has appeared in just eight games for Toronto after signing with Raptors for the league minimum in the offseason. Often at the end of the bench, or one of Caseys inactives, Daye hasnt logged more than three minutes in a game since early December, coincidentally against the Spurs. "You never know when an opportunity will come," Daye said in conversation with TSN.ca last month. "I know I can play in this league. Its just a matter of a numbers game right now." "Its tough when you feel like theres no hope," he continued, "but you have to also look at it this way, you may not be playing, then youre thrown in a trade and then youre needed to play." With the trade deadline in the rear-view mirror and the uncertainty of Lowrys immediate future put behind them for the time being, the Raptors can focus all their attention on the stretch run. "[The deadline] does weigh on you, it weighs on everybody," Ujiri admitted. "Theres anxiety, people are wondering whats going to happen. Its gone, its gone and now everybody plays a little more free and they kind of figure at least were here for another few months or for the future. As tough as we all try to be, me included, the trade deadline is a date, I think, thats significant for everybody." Cheap Puma Shoes Online Australia . Torres scored the first goal by an English team in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season when he met Cezar Azpilicuetas cutback in the ninth minute of their first leg match in the last 16. But Chelsea failed to make the most of its counterattacks and the Turkish champions equalized in the second half after gaining in confidence and cutting out their defensive mistakes. Puma Shoes Online Australia . Compared to what hes gone through in recent weeks, that seemed like a breeze. Speaking to The Associated Press on Friday at an NBA Cares event, Silver said hes thrilled that the leagues attention can be on the championship series between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs -- and not, as it was for so much of the post-season, on the off-the-court matters involving the banishment of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and now the looming sale of that franchise. http://www.cheapaustraliapuma.com/ . Bookies were offering odds of 13/1 before kickoff that the home team Houston Dynamo would prevail by three goals to nil. Puma Shoes Discount Sale . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. Original Puma Shoes Wholesale . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug.REGINA - Olympic gold-medal favourite Mark McMorris is in "great spirits," despite a fall that fractured a rib and nearly derailed his dream. Don McMorris, the snowboarders father, says Mark is moving around quite well after the incident during Saturdays slopestyle event at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colo. "When we left him (Sunday), he could bend over and touch his toes because of where (the injury) is at," Don McMorris told The Canadian Press on Monday. "You know a cracked rib in the front, you couldnt do that, but where its at (around the back), he could bend to his toes and could raise his knees up to kind of his chest. "He was really doing better than we all thought. Hes got five or six days before he has to worry about riding and hes got the best people around him." Mark McMorris caught his snowboard on the lip of a rail and went sliding down the bar on his right side before landing hard on the snow during the final. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes before riding down the hill under his own power. It seems the 20-year-old Regina native lost focus. "He probably hit that rail through the week, I dont know 50 times, and never had a problem with it or any of the rails because thats, I think, one of the strongest parts of his riding," said Don McMorris, who was in Aspen when his son fell. "But obviously he was focused on what he was going to do on the jump line because he was going to try something pretty major." Don McMorris says his son didnt hurt much at first, but the pain got worse as the afternoon wore on. Mark McMorrris finished with a silver medal at the event, but was "pretty down," said his father.dddddddddddd Mark McMorris had said being an Olympian is a dream come true. He was the two-time defending Winter X Games champion in slopestyle. When he was named to the Olympic team earlier this month, McMorris said hes been "preparing like a mad man." The fall raised questions as to whether he could compete in Sochi. "He was really scared, not necessarily about his own well-being, I dont think, but that he wouldnt get to go to the Olympics," said Don McMorris. "That was really playing on his mind and when he does that, he just gets really quiet and doesnt really talk or say much to anybody. "And you could just tell that he was really scared and worried about not getting to fulfil his dream." The elder McMorris says the tough part was waiting to hear what the team doctors had to say. He describes it as an agonizing wait of about three hours. They eventually decided Mark would go to Sochi, as planned. "I cant tell you what he said because that would not be printable," joked Don McMorris. "He was really relieved." A fractured rib usually takes six weeks to heal, so Mark McMorris wont have time to fully recover before the Games start Feb. 7. But his father is cautiously optimistic. "Yes, Im optimistic, (I) have to be," he said. "I mean maybe too optimistic because theres going to be a lot of pain and . . . you dont know how the body will react, but compared to what it could have been, were pretty happy." ' ' '